[SNIPERBBB]

Originally Posted by BillyMac

It's a simple matter of geometry.

A rectangular backboard has well defined upper corners that separate the top from the sides.

A fan shaped backboard, while having well defined sides near the bottom, has poorly defined curved "corners" closer to the top, where one needs to consider tangents.

Of course, once one starts to consider tangents, one needs to whip out one's trusty trigonometry slide rule.

Mark T. DeNucci, Sr., as an engineer, can expound upon this when he gets back from his tropical cruise.

I wonder if the rule was more of a holdover from the days when the baskets were mounted directly to walls. Really wasnt enough room behind the board so a ball that went behind the board would of been hitting the wall and that you really couldnt pass or shoot over the board while being on the floor in bounds when the basket was 2ft off the endline